Guard against goal-induced tunnel vision on the stretch target

Intense focus on a specific stretch metric can produce unethical shortcuts or costly neglect of adjacent areas.

Why it works

Narrow goal specification directs attention powerfully — which is the mechanism of benefit, but also the mechanism of harm. When a goal is specified too narrowly, people neglect unmeasured dimensions that are equally important (quality sacrificed for speed, ethics sacrificed for numbers). Research labels this "goal-induced blindness" and documents it even in well-intentioned people pursuing challenging targets.

How to do it

1. For each stretch goal, name the two or three dimensions you could sacrifice in pursuit of it.
2. Add explicit "floor" constraints: minimum acceptable performance on each of those dimensions.
3. Review the floors at each milestone checkpoint, not just the headline metric.

Evidence

Ordóñez et al.’s review documented systematic side-effects of goal setting including increased unethical behaviour, risk-taking, and neglect of non-goal dimensions when goals were narrow and high-stakes. (observational)

This review was partly contested by Locke and Latham; the phenomenon is real but may be amplified by high stakes and external accountability more than goal difficulty per se.

Sources

• Ordóñez, Schweitzer, Galinsky & Bazerman (2009), "Goals gone wild", Academy of Management Perspectives

Common mistake

Measuring only the headline stretch metric and treating performance on unmeasured dimensions as irrelevant until something breaks visibly.